Janine Marnien
Drive down Foothill Boulevard, and the Korean presence in the
community is apparent. Signs in the language line the boulevard,
advertising their respective businesses.
It's a presence the Foothill Design Committee has noticed, and
hopes to tap into. The group has tackled the task of developing some
sort of aesthetic pattern on Foothill Boulevard based on community
input, including that of the Korean sector.
"If Foothill is to improve for everyone, that means the Korean
community as well," committee co-chairwoman Sharon Raghavachary said.
"We want those businesses on board. It's their community, too."
The problem is, the committee doesn't know who to talk to or where
to start in its effort to reach out to Korean business owners.
It's the same problem the Crescenta Valley Chamber of Commerce has
faced, Executive Director Jean Maluccio said.
"There's no chamber of commerce in Korea, so it is an unfamiliar
thing to them," she said.
The chamber has slowly added more and more Korean businesses to
its membership list, in part due to the efforts of Sam Lee, a Korean
representative on the chamber's board of directors.
Lee owns Sam Lee's Computer Service in Glendale, and translates
chamber materials into Korean.
"If you're dealing with Koreans who are first generation, most of
the problem is the language," he said. "They feel like they don't
express themselves well."
The best way to reach out to Korean business owners is face to
face, Lee added.
"Once they know, they can tell others," he said.
Lee said he'd be happy to act as a translator for other community
organizations like the Foothill Design Committee.
"I would love to do that. It's my mission," he said.
